First hockey weekend festival amid Level 3 lockdown

With the country moving back to lockdown Level 3 on July 26, the Southern Warriors Hockey Club held their first-weekend clinic since the announcement.

Scores of young players of various clubs headed to Bryanston to take part in a number of hockey and fitness drills, and ball skills to prep them for the club and school season.

Junior hockey manager of the club Jesse Salo said it was great to see many children back on the hockey field. “Who would’ve thought that we’d miss hockey this much. Over the past couple of weeks building up to the clinic, we’ve received numerous messages from players and parents asking when we’ll be allowed to step back onto the astro. The time has finally come, so we are over the moon really.”

Teams get ready for various tournaments set to take place, namely Hockey Junction and the Southern Gauteng Hockey Association outdoor league. For now, Salo said the club was focused on getting players back to match fitness.

“As a club, we’re looking into forming teams to start playing in the Johannesburg indoor leagues, but that’s going to be a big push as time is slowly catching up on us. Our main focus is to build and salvage what’s left of this year to be able to start 2022 on the right foot.
“We’ve built a good database and better relationships with the kids and parents involved. Most of our planning and strategies have been set out already so it’s all about execution,” he told the Fourways Review.

A number of senior players were expected to join the club, a move that would encourage younger players to take part and enjoy the game.
“The aim is to get these kids on board so that we have strong quality players coming through the ranks to be able to play in our older teams. These little ones will form the backbone of the club as we’ll be able to continuously work with them to ensure the quality of our players keeps growing.”

Details: southernwarriors10@gmail.com